TDSB Trustees Glad to Hear From Chris Spence

Majority of Toronto District School Board trustees are calmed to hear from Chris Spence after almost six months of silence, though they still remain dismayed on his suffering and cautiously hope for him to eventually find a way to get back to education. A TDSB Trustee who worked as a principal in Scarborough at the time when Spence was superintendent, Jerry Chadwick, alleged that “he’s a very sensitive, caring person who made some bad choices, but young people still need people like him who believe in them.” It was added “but he’ll have to start from square one. It won’t be easy.”

Spence conversed with reporters on Thursday, for the first time since his resignation in January, due to a plagiarism scandal. Spence blamed his years of plagiarism on an uptight workload and his own ambition, though he claims to have largely relied on others to help him write. Commenting on this statement, Trustee Sheila Ward alleged on Friday that “I was disappointed; I don’t think he’s come to grips with it yet.” She elucidated that “what people want to hear is someone say, ‘I’m to blame and no one else is responsible.’ It’s very difficult to stand up and say ‘I really blew it,’ but I don’t think anything less will do for Chris. Once is a mistake (for plagiarism); twice is a pattern.”

Additionally, Ward questioned “what’s that got to do with plagiarism?” At the same time, she prayed for Spence to find a productive role in society in due time, though simultaneously warned that “I don’t think his comments yesterday moved that forward.”